The Fredericksblog

Update on the East Coast station

They appear to have regular gas now. $3.799 per gallon according to the sign. Nothing seen posted for other grades of fuel.

Riverfest

 

The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee…

 …hosted the Jefferson Jackson dinner on Friday night. With almost 100 people in attendance at the University of Mary Washington faculty dining hall,  Fredericksburg Democratic Chair Amy LaMarca ( pictured below with Pete Rose and Delegate Steve Shannon)

welcomed everyone with her opening remarks.  Those attending heard comments from Delegate Steve Shannon, State Senators Creigh Deeds and Edd Houck, delegate Brian Moran and U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott. Senator Houck delivered a moving memorial to the late Judge John Scott and presented a framed resolution of appreciation for the judge’s distinguished service. Judge Scott’s widow, Alda White, accepted the resolution and spoke movingly about Judge Scott's career in public service.

 

Congressman Scott urged Democrats to not allow the Republicans to force the campaign leading up to  the November election into a contest of icons and avatars because issues and policy need to be the battleground.

Pig roast

We’re cooking a whole pig in a few days and I am responsible for the cooking part. It doesn’t sound so intimidating but I have never done a whole pig before and about 30-40 hungry people are going to show up at noon on the 31^st of August.

The first plan was to bury the pig in a luau style cooking plan. As my friend Rick and I thought about it though we thought that the risk of exhuming a half cooked pig was not one we wanted to take. So instead we are going to rent a trailer mounted cooking rig and at least be able to keep dinner in sight.  To be honest, the prospect of digging a 6’x6’x3’ deep hole in the hard summer soil was also an issue along with the need to haul enough rocks there to line the pit and enough firewood to cook the beast and finally of course having no prior experience at that style of cooking.   Not to  mention that the banana leaves might not be so easy to find here and the river has no seaweed that we could substitute.

Wish me luck and if you have any suggestions please feel free to send them along via the comment function. Any and all advice will be considered and appreciated.

FAMCC for August

FOR Action Alert

INSIDE

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 ACTION ALERT: Wastewater Treatment Permit to be “FAST TRACKED”. Stop the FAST TRACK ! Email comments needed by tomorrow.

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1. ACTION ALERT

Emails needed by 5pm this FRIDAY !

STOP the "FAST TRACK" of Culpeper Wastewater Treatment Plant Permit

The

County

of

Culpeper

is requesting a two year extension beyond the 12/31/10 deadline to construct extra capacity for a wastewater treatment plant. This would enable Culpeper a greater waste-load allocation into the

Chesapeake Bay

. Most importantly, this request is being "fast-tracked" through DEQ . We feel that the issue needs lots of "sunshine" to make sure the correct public policy decision is made and that the real facts come to the surface. A rush to judgment through the fast-track process could have serious and detrimental consequences to water quality.

In order for the State Water Control Board to review the application, DEQ must receive 10 written comments by FRIDAY, JUNE 20. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

EMAIL comments to John Kennedy at DEQ jmkennedy@deq.virginia.gov

Please cc your comments to john.tippett@riverfriends.org

Talking Points:

*The

County

of

Culpeper

request could set a dangerous precedent for increased waste-load allocation in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, undermining the intent of the Water Quality Management Planning Regulation.

*Such a significant issue should occur in full public view before setting any precedent for extensions..

* Ask DEQ NOT to Fast Track the process.

The comments from Friends of the Rappahannock are attached as an example.

It will only take a few minutes to send your comments by email, but it could make a BIG DIFFERENCE. Be sure to include your name and address.

The River Thanks You !

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•  

Final respects

Route 1 was lined with people who gathered to pay their last respects as the funeral procession for city police officer Todd Bahr passed by en route to Sunset Memorial Gardens. Bahr was a victim of what, according to Fredericksburg Police Chief David Nye, appeared to be a fatal ambush last Friday night. The shooting took place as Bahr and other city police officers responded to a domestic dispute on Cowan Boulevard. Bahr was the first city officer to lose his life in the line of duty in over 40 years.

I couldn't begin to count the law enforcement and public safety vehicle in the procession but there had to be between three and four hundred. There was even a locally organized "rolling thunder" style tribute made up of about 100 civilian cyclists, many displaying both the American flag and the well known POW/MIA banner.

As I stood across from the entrance to Sunset Memorial Gardens trying, in vain I fear, to capture the scope of the scene on camera I could see looking to the north that Route 1 was backed up and at a standstill as far as I could see and according to one deputy, probably backed up all the way into Stafford. I saw units from public safety organizations from Virginia Beach all the way north into Maryland and most localities in between including the U.S. Capital police.

All the units passed under the extended towers of the aerial trucks from the Fredericksburg and Chancellor Fire Departments.

Fredericksburg's New Arts Commission

The re-constituted Fredericksburg  Arts Commission held its first meeting Monday night.  All meetings are open to the public and there were three members of the public there. Vice Mayor Kerry Devine and Councilman George Solley acted as chairpersons for this first meeting. Though one might expect a first meeting to center around the organization process, those issues were delayed until the next meeting on July 14^th.

 

Initial discussions focused on communications about  and awareness of local artists and events  and the need for an easily accessible on line calendar of events. Possibilities for funding and defining long and near term goals were also covered. The city is currently revamping its web site and members felt that this would be the most likely avenue  for successfully raising awareness of the arts in the city. Commission member Roy Jarnecke reminded the commission that despite the coverage given to events around Fredericksburg in the Weekender section of the paper, the primary information resource for many is the Internet. 

As for funding, Debbie Klein, a member of the previous commission informed the members that the previous arts commission still had nearly $15, 000 in state money  that had not been used and which would likely be available once some procedural issues were addressed.  Not mentioned was the $20,000 funding package that the Economic Development Authority has allotted to arts in the city.

Graduation

You have perhaps seen the story in the FLS about the Courtland High student who was at first going to be denied the privilege of at least walking with his graduating class this year. He had been undergoing dialysis treatments and the after effects of the treatments combined with the time missed from school had caused him to be a few credits short of the number needed to get his diploma although he was slated to finish the required work in summer school. The Spotsylvania County school system finally relented and Mr. Saffy will be allowed to walk with his class.

Apparently the folks who run the Woodlands California schools are a good deal more hard hearted than we are here in the east. See the video here on You Tube. What I found striking was the seemingly flippant attitude of the principal when news folks tried to talk to her about it on camera. I can understand the reluctance to discuss the case in any detail but her attitude read to me as if they were asking her about some high school prank like the kidnapping of a mascot by a rival school.

This is not a trivial matter for this young lady who has fought cancer to a seeming standstill as she underwent surgery and chemo. Have we become such slaves to government that we can do no better than this? 

Positive developments...

...it seems to me in the last few days. It began with finding two of Fredericksburg's finest at the corner of William Street and Princess Anne Sunday morning conducting a checking detail for loud vehicles and red light runners. I saw a couple of warnings being issues and they told me that the warnings are entered into the computer so that if that vehicle is stopped again for a noise violation the driver will be ticketed. The noise level downtown has a become a blight on the ambiance that we seem to want for the historic district and these two Community Police Officers were a welcome sight.

I did find it curious that with these two guys in place, a network of sorts seemed to exist because the number of violators shrunk to almost zero. As soon as they packed up and moved down to Caroline to continue their detail we had what seemed to be a mini-Rolling Thunder event commence. Maybe the solution to the noise issue is to put up cardboard cutouts similar to the approach used by game wardens placing fake deer on the roadside to catch poachers.

Then yesterday we read the story of the young man who was not going to be allowed to march with his graduating  class because he was a few credits short due to his dialysis treatments. To their credit  Spotsylvania school officials  retreated from their by the book posture on this and found a way to do the right thing. Good for them.

The bright side of the Sunday night micro-burst even was revealed as daylight showed that we got rid of a few more of those noxious Bradford Pear trees meaning a few less trips to the car wash are in the future for those of us who forget and park underneath one of those glob spitting starling roosts.

Hey, you gotta take the good where you can find it. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!